In many municipalities, the conventional metal or plastic garbage bin has been replaced by a mobile bin which for collection purposes is placed adjacent a roadway so as to enable a refuse collection vehicle to engage the bin and deposit its contents into a hopper, whereafter a compactor may compact the collected refuse. A number of different types of bin engaging devices have been employed to enable a bin to be securely engaged and lifted for tipping the contents thereof. One common type of lifter engages under the rim of the bin whilst clamping the top side thereof so that the bin may be readily grasped, elevated and tipped. A disadvantage of this arrangement, however, is that it is relatively slow requiring the bin to be accurately aligned with the lifting mechanism prior to elevation. Furthermore such a mechanism has limitations in its height of operation making engagement with bins located below the road level extremely difficult. To overcome these disadvantages other arrangements have been used. In one such arrangement a mechanical gripping jaw assembly is actuated to simply grip about the sides of the bin, however, such gripping assemblies often exert only a point contact on the bin so as to either cause damage thereto or not exerting a sufficient gripping force on the bins to enable them to be lifted. Whilst such arrangements are useful in grasping bins at a range of elevations, they are not readily adapted for use with bins of different sizes. One further alternative arrangement has been to employ a suction principle wherein the bin gripping devices are in the form of suction pads to which a vacuum is applied with the aim of firmly grasping the side of the bin using suction force. In such devices, however, damage or scratching of the bin often prevents the vacuum being maintained so that the gripping is not effective. Difficulties are also encountered if the bin is wet.